


Rising

by CheshireGrinn (orphan_account)



Series: From The Ashes [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-19
Updated: 2014-02-19
Packaged: 2018-01-13 00:48:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1206676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/CheshireGrinn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>David sees Emma taking out her anger on the practice dummy, and wants to know what's wrong.</p>
<p>He's not really sure what he expected, but it wasn't this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rising

**Author's Note:**

> Guys, it's sososososo short, but it's further in the plot of it I swear! Sorry for taking so long!!!
> 
> Kudos and comments are love!~

The sword clanged noisily, and the nose was still echoing through the courtyard when it repeated. Again and again and again, the sword met the practice dummy, donned in full armor, shaking precariously on its column.

Sweat dripped down the princess' neck, her breath little more than heavy pants, cheeks flushed pink, chest heaving. The sword was a new thing, something to be studies and practiced with until mastered. She'd be more comfortable with a gun, but it wasn't practical here. Bullets were far more precious here than in the other world, so she'd learn her piece of steel inside and out, and continue to practice until she was just as formidable. 

After all, weapons could be understood perfectly, completely, flawlessly mastered, like the people wielding them could not. 

She swung the blade again, the once more, repeated the action until the blade slipped from her sweaty palms, and hit the ground with a metallic clatter. She braced her hands on her knees, drawing in deep, greedy breaths into her aching lungs.

“Is something bothering you, sweetheart?”

She glanced up through the damp, loose, golden curls that had slipped free, framing her face, and forcing a sharp breath out her nose as she right herself, she grabbed the sword, “Nope. Not me. I'm fine.”

Her tone was too terse, shoulders too tense, and little did she know, the kind had been watching her for a good ten minutes, had watched her swings grow more and more angered and frustrated. He crossed his arms, leaning against the stones that made up the castle as he quirked a brow, “Then why are all my knights afraid to come within ten feet of the courtyard?”

She couldn't keep the smirk from making a short appearance, but it slipped away, and she shrugged innocently, “How should I know? They're your men.”

He frowned. Since the ball, she'd been distracted, and kept to herself more than usual. He, along with everyone else in the kingdom, thank you, had seen her dance with the infamous pirate. It was something else, tense and passionate and fiery, and made his heart thud, made his memory come alive. He knew love when he saw it, had been one half of a similar duo. It seemed so long ago, now, like another life. 

Passion like that was rare, once in a lifetime, and he wouldn't let his beloved daughter miss out on such a thing.

His wife, however, was another matter, and one that would require some persuasion.

“Come on, out with it.”

David startled, blinking at his daughter, who loosely held her sword in one hand, the tip stabbed into the ground, with the other braced firmly on her hip. The blonde brow she had cocked looked quite familiar, just more feminine than the one that often looked back at him from a mirror. 

“You've got that I-want-to-say-something-but-I-don't-want-to-offend-you-because-I-love-you look,” Emma scoffed. “And, while I appreciate the gesture, it's really cutting into my focus, and I'm trying to train here.”

“You're just smacking at that dummy to vent your anger,” David argued, pushing off from the wall and heading over. The look Emma shot him was icy, at best, and he took her sword, making a defensive stance, before lightly striking the dummy. He mirrored her look, “I know you know the stances, the moves. This isn't training, or practice. This is frustration, and anger, and venting.”

Emma blew a lock of hair out of her face with irritation, turning away from her father with an eye roll as she crossed her arms. David waited patiently for his daughter to grasp her thoughts, and he'd wait as long as he had to. She obviously needed to get this off her chest. 

She spun, suddenly, golden curls flying, all the irritation on her face as she stared at her father, “They've both got some nerve. Both of them.” She scoffed, beginning to pace, “Neal thinks that just because we're both...here, home, whatever, that he still stands a chance. That he didn't hand me over to the authorities, that I didn't do time in jail, that I didn't give up my son. Some damn nerve, the asshole...”

Her face softened, “And Hook...”

But it was soft for only a moment, before hardening in rage again, “Hook, with that—that dance! What did he think he was doing?! Trying to humiliate me? Do people think I can't hear them talking about it, that I don't hear the whispers in the halls? I don't know what I'm doing, and it's starting to look a hell of a lot like everyone is waiting on me to fuck up! I don't know how to be a princess, okay?! I am not dresses and finery and princes and all this bullshit!”

She lashed out, kicking the dummy over. It clashed and clattered against the ground, and David watched his daughter bat hair from her eyes, silver and beautiful and shining as she stared him down, “I don't know how to do this, and dammit, I thought I could trust him. I thought...”

She turned away once again, swiping angrily at her face, and the man was left to make assumptions. It seems as if the princess—his swan—had thought Hook was trying to sabotage her, but he was nearly positive the pirate was trying to do the exact opposite. Emma felt betrayed by the swashbuckler, and the king just didn't have words.

It turned out he didn't need any. 

Emma pivoted, stalking toward the castle with a tightness to her shoulders that meant nothing good, and he caught her growling under her breath, “And just wait until I see him again. Just wait.”

Uh-oh.


End file.
